At least 35 charter flights were scheduled for Poplar River First Nation Wednesday following a decision to proceed with a full evacuation of the remote, fly-in community in northern Manitoba.

First Nation leadership decided Tuesday that it needed to evacuate the remainder of the community due to blowing smoke from a nearby wildfire.

Residents have been flown to Winnipeg where the Red Cross is assisting with the evacuation arranging hotels, food and other support for those forced out by the fire.

Poplar River is located north of Winnipeg on the east side of Lake Winnipeg and is home to around 1200 people.

Band councillor Russell Lambert told CTV News the fire is burning six kilometres south of the community.

Lambert said so far no homes have been damaged, adding that right now smoke is the main concern.

“Everybody is uneasy right now,” said Lambert. “I know yesterday there was a lot of concerns from the First Nation members.”

“We’re trying to cope the best we can by comforting each other.”

Lambert, who was among 285 people flown to Winnipeg during an initial evacuation of community members with health concerns starting on Aug. 10, said updates have been coming in from the community’s emergency measures team who stayed behind in Poplar River.

By the end of Wednesday it’s expected a total of 750 community members will be in Winnipeg.

Waylon Bittern and his wife were also among those who initially left the community with their small children.

On Wednesday, the couple was expecting the arrival of their four older daughters and two sons during this latest round of evacuations.

“It’s been quite hard to comprehend and unbelievable,” said Bittern. “It wasn’t a threat and now it’s a major threat to our community and our land over there.”

“I’m worried a lot because those are our houses and what are we going to do if our houses were to burn and where are we going to go.”

According Manitoba Sustainable Development’s Wildfire Program the 3020 hectare fire was ignited by lighting and is labelled as “being watched” by the province at this time.

Several community members have stayed behind, volunteering to assist with the response.

Due to the small size of the community’s runway only small planes can be used during the evacuation.

Support from the Red Cross comes through an agreement with Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada and expenses for this response are being covered by the federal government.